Favorite subhAshithA
Yesterday, in a casual conversation, we somehow started talking about samskith shlOkA and my friend VP recited the following one,
"
कर्मण्येवाधिकारस्ते मा फलॆषु कदाचन ।
karmaNyevAdhikAraste mA phalEShu kadAchana |
"
and he started asking the meaning, the literal one. I then, as usual, proceeded to split the line and try to help him get to the meaning. In fact, he recited it wrong and PC also made a fatal attempt trying to give the meaning. Anyway, here it is.
"
कर्मण्ये एव अधिकार: ते, म फलॆषु कदाचन |
karmaNye eva adhikAra: te, ma phalEShu kadAchana |
"
The meaning is quite simple and I shall not get into the word by word translation.
'
You only have right to the work (duties) not its fruits
'
And SAS asked me if I remembered the complete shlOkA, at the time I did not. It was in the back of my mind the whole time. Eventhough I could recall parts of the second line, I had to refer to my copy of shrimad bhagavadgItA (श्रिमद् भगवद्गीता) to recall it completely.
"
कर्मण्येवाधिकारस्ते म फलॆषु कदाचन।
मा कर्मफलहॆतुर्भूर्मा ते सङॊऽअम्प्;स्त्वाकर्मणि ॥
"
"
karmaNyevAdhikAraste ma phalEShu kadAchana|
mA karmaphalahEturBUrmA te sa~gO&stvaakarmaNi ||
"
FYI, this shlOkA comes as the 47th verse in the second chapter of shrimad bhagavadgItA (श्रिमद् भगवद्गीता).
'
You only have right to the work (duties) not its fruits. You should not get motivated by the results of your work, nor should you be flinch away from your work.
'
As the conversation continued, VP asked me what would be my favorite shlOkA. In fact, I had never thought about it before. And as I started to think, there was not a single one, I could readily think of as being my favorite. I don't know why, but it seems I don't have any favorite. I like reading these subhAshiTA, all of them have had some effect on me, in ways I think and talk. I need to read my samkritha subhAshitA books and figure out if there is anything that I like more than all of them. But right now, I think that there are too many good lines in this language and too few of them in my immediate memory that I could not form an opinion. Many of the new lines that I read, I tend to like them a lot and remember them for next few days and forget again.
"
कर्मण्येवाधिकारस्ते मा फलॆषु कदाचन ।
karmaNyevAdhikAraste mA phalEShu kadAchana |
"
and he started asking the meaning, the literal one. I then, as usual, proceeded to split the line and try to help him get to the meaning. In fact, he recited it wrong and PC also made a fatal attempt trying to give the meaning. Anyway, here it is.
"
कर्मण्ये एव अधिकार: ते, म फलॆषु कदाचन |
karmaNye eva adhikAra: te, ma phalEShu kadAchana |
"
The meaning is quite simple and I shall not get into the word by word translation.
'
You only have right to the work (duties) not its fruits
'
And SAS asked me if I remembered the complete shlOkA, at the time I did not. It was in the back of my mind the whole time. Eventhough I could recall parts of the second line, I had to refer to my copy of shrimad bhagavadgItA (श्रिमद् भगवद्गीता) to recall it completely.
"
कर्मण्येवाधिकारस्ते म फलॆषु कदाचन।
मा कर्मफलहॆतुर्भूर्मा ते सङॊऽअम्प्;स्त्वाकर्मणि ॥
"
"
karmaNyevAdhikAraste ma phalEShu kadAchana|
mA karmaphalahEturBUrmA te sa~gO&stvaakarmaNi ||
"
FYI, this shlOkA comes as the 47th verse in the second chapter of shrimad bhagavadgItA (श्रिमद् भगवद्गीता).
'
You only have right to the work (duties) not its fruits. You should not get motivated by the results of your work, nor should you be flinch away from your work.
'
As the conversation continued, VP asked me what would be my favorite shlOkA. In fact, I had never thought about it before. And as I started to think, there was not a single one, I could readily think of as being my favorite. I don't know why, but it seems I don't have any favorite. I like reading these subhAshiTA, all of them have had some effect on me, in ways I think and talk. I need to read my samkritha subhAshitA books and figure out if there is anything that I like more than all of them. But right now, I think that there are too many good lines in this language and too few of them in my immediate memory that I could not form an opinion. Many of the new lines that I read, I tend to like them a lot and remember them for next few days and forget again.
Comments
I looked up my copy of Bhagavad Gita by Sri Aurobindo after you guys were gone and there it was in chapter 2, verse 47: "Thou hast a right to action, but oly to action, never to its fruits; let not the fruits of thy work be thy motive, neither let there be in thee any attachment to inactivity."
- one of my favorite verses too. :)
It was good conversation and helped me get better understanding and correct pronunciation of one the many inspiring lines from Bhagvad Gita.
So far this has been my favorite, but hope know more interesting on this blog.
@Vinod: Follow the blog, I try to embed some quotes in my blog :)